TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14232, 21 December 1911, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Ono of tho thiiios Fast, Safe, that the United and Stnt?s can learn fro.n Comfortable. England is how to run railways so as to secure speed, safety, and comfort at the same time. The Americans pride themselves on their speed, and they certainly liko to bo comfortable, vet a writer in an American magazine admits that tho world's finest, and probably tho fastest, means cf travelling, is to be found in England. This is tho Corn sh-Riviera express, which i tins between London and Penzance. Its running is a triumph of caref-il methods and ingenuity. Tho expre.-rs leaves Paddington at ten-thirty in tho morning, and docs not slow down uiitil it reaches Plymouth, 22-3 miles away, four hours later. Yet between London and Plymouth many passengers are dropped at important towns. This is dono by detaching carriages while tho train is travelling at a high speed. Tho traveller who alights at Exeter or Taunton ia surpri.scd to find that thero is no sign of the eng'no and other carriages. Just outside the station the driver decreased tho spool almost imjierceptibly, which slackened the strain on the couplings, and tho conductor uncoupled the carriage ar.d brought it to a stop at the platform by means of a hand-brake. The operandi is simple and safe. From Plymouth the train runs to Penzance with only one stop, and the whole distance of 30-5 miles from London is covered

in 395 minutes, including 10 two stops. Such running can only he done safely after a great deal of money has been spent on tho track. An additional set of rails was laid through stations, so that this express could run right through, and th* iallast was picked and laid very carefully. Dust ,- s unknown. Travelling at 70 miles an hour and over is described as so delightfully smooth that "it is almost impossible to realise that the train is moving at all." The writer concludes by telling his countrymen that their railroads aro a long way behind thoso of somo other countries. Tho problem of London traffic Keep is the greatest ot" its kind in to tho world, and it will Le tho solved only by hereto measures. Kerb. Pending the adoption of these, something is being done in small ways to lessen tho everincreasing congestion in tho Metropolis. For instance, tho Chief Commissioner of Police recently issued orders to his men to compel slow-going traffic to keep to tho kerb, and it is anticipated that what may seem a small matter to many will havo quite an appreciablo effect in quickening tho pace of the sluggish streams that flow through tho streets. By way of experiment tho polico patrolled a longth of street in one of the busiest quarters, and enforced observance of tho injunction, "Drive near left kerb." Thero was an occasional argument between a driver and a mounted constablo, but most of tho drivers observed the order with alacrity, and tho effect on tho traffic waa very encouraging. The idea originated with tho Commercial Motor Users' Association, members of which would naturally feel much annoyed with that nuisanco of busy streets, tho man who drives a lumboring vehicle m the middle or towards tho middlo of the road. Tho Association has issued advico to constables, in which tho following classification and distribution of traffic- is sot out: —Slow-moving traffic closo to tho kerb; slowmedium traffic noxt outside, and as closo in as possible; fast-medium traffio next outsido, and as closo in as possible; fast-traffic outside, also keeping as closo in as possible. In tho absenco of other classes of traffic, tho fast traffic should keep closo to the kerb. The fastest traffic should never bo under tho necessity of crossing to the wrong side ot tho road, such movements boing tho causo of many accidents. Thero is already a heavy penalty under tho law ~for tho man who obstructs a road by driving in tho middle, and every member of tho Association is asked to report any such caso that may como under his notice. Thero is probably no city in tho world that would not bo tho better for regulation of its traffic on these lines. It is not always sufficient merely to keep to tho. left. Many Christchurch cyclists must have suffered from drivers of heary vehicles driving in tho middle of the left-hand half of a road divided by tramway poles, to that the cyclist is undecided on which side to pass. What ought to be dono Monument to tho man who carves Wreckers, his name on a monument? The question js asked in tho "Standard" apropos of Polico Court proceedings taken recently against three people for damaging tho tombstono of tho poet Gray, in the Stoko Pogos churchyard. "Everywhere, and in thousands, peoplo aro cutting their names on tombs, monument*, cromlechs, and Druid stones, churches, rocks, and trees in noted beauty spots." The writer thinks that if this Police Court remedy were applied it would havo a good effect, for most of tho offenders aro unaware that they arc guilty of an offence against tho law. Ho tells a rather I amusing story of Low ho, who now condemns the practice, onco caused ono of tho Pyramids to bo defaced for Ins benefit. Ho asked his dragoman to pick up for a souvenir ono cf tho fragments of the Great Pyramid that lio at its base, but the man produced a hammer (apparently carried for tho purpose) and chipped a corner off ono of tho main blocks. "Ton will bo sure it is genuine now," ho said, is ho handed it to tho Englishman, who wonders how long tho Pyramid can stand being mulitatod for tourists. Thero is somo satisfaction in find-'ng that there are places in England where this kind of vandalism is not perpetrated. In Folkestone parish church thero is a monument so covered with carved names and initials that thero is no room for any moro, ovon the eyes having been a"propriated. But London churches are not greatly troubled with this barbnrious practice. However, it appears to be only too truo that the.so places escape only because there are too many people about. At Westminster Abbey nine vergers aro constantly on guard, and thero has been no defacement., of recent years. Tho beautiful and secluded Tempi© Church, tho oldest in London, has not had a caso of vandalism in fifteen years, and St. Paul's also reports itself free from tho scourge. Tho writer suggests that tlio popularity of tho practice is duo to the example of famous peoplo who wrote their names on tho walls of Shakespeare's house. It may be, but we seem to remember reading that tho practice is as old as ancient Egypt, excavators having discovered marks ni old ruins which suggest that even in thoso far-off days there wero barbarians who cheso this method of recording their littleness.